Safety & Quality

ECRI, and its affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), are proud to join global leaders in supporting World Patient Safety Day 2021.

Each year, more than 300,000 women worldwide die from childbirth. Nearly 6,700 newborns die every day. Tragically, an estimated 75 percent of these deaths are considered preventable with the right prenatal and postnatal care. In addition, about 2 million babies are stillborn.

Here in the U.S., more women die from childbirth than in any of the 11 other developed countries measured, and access to care varies based on insurance coverage. This is compounded by systemic racial inequity in the healthcare system. Behind these statistics are devastated children and families— and other women who suffer injury, illness, or infection during childbirth.

With this in mind, global leaders have dedicated 2021 World Patient Safety Day, September 17, 2021, to Safe Maternal and Newborn Care. ECRI and our affiliate, the Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), join them in working toward for safer more affordable, equitable, and accessible care for mothers and babies everywhere. Together, we’re advocating for:

• Safe and quality care by skilled health professionals working in supportive environments
• The engagement of all stakeholders
• The adoption of comprehensive health systems and community-based approaches

Please join us in raising global awareness about maternal and newborn safety, adopting effective and innovative strategies to improve maternal and newborn safety, and employing best practices at the point of care to prevent avoidable risks and harm to all women and newborns.

Act now for safe and respectful childbirth

For World Patient Safety Day 2021, ECRI and ISMP are providing a wealth of free and shareable patient safety, medication safety, and evidence-based medicine resources to reduce the risks and harm that women and newborns are exposed to due to unsafe care.

We invite you to explore all that we have to offer and consider becoming a member of ECRI.

Maternal Care

• Telehealth for Treating Postpartum Depression
• Telehealth Monitoring for Pregnant Women with Gestational Diabetes
• Telehealth Monitoring Hypertensive Disorder in High-Risk Pregnant Women
• Integrated Telehealth Prenatal Care for Low-risk Pregnant Women
• Pregnancy and COVID-19 Vaccines: A Hopeful Promise of Protection for Mothers and Newborns
• Errors Associated with Oxytocin Use: A Multi-Organization Analysis by ISMP and ISMP Canada
• Ask ECRI: Emergency Cesarean Section Readiness
• Electronic Fetal Monitoring
• Maternal Health Across the Continuum

Newborn Care

• Breastfeeding - promoting and supporting the initiation, exclusivity, and continuation of breastfeeding for newborns, infants, and young children
• Rapid advice guidelines for management of children with COVID-19 (May 2020)
• Child Safety in the Hospital
• Incubators, Infant
• What’s in a Name? Newborn Naming Conventions and Wrong-Patient Errors
• What’s in a Name? Survey Finds Wide Variety of Error-Prone Newborn Naming Conventions in Use Today